I did not see the game but saw snippets on the news. The fan is an idiot but the player is there in a professional capacity and is wrong here. It would be no different if he had been in a bar and hit the woman with a chair.

He won't spend a minute of time in jail. He could, however, lose his work visa and have to go back to the Dominican Republic.

There's another story in Star Telegram that quotes other pitchers from the Tigers and the Red Sox, who say they've almost gotten into it with those same fans. They say they've had beer poured on them and one said "I think one of them peed in a cup, then threw it on us."

So give these cretins a big financial settlement.

The best thing the Rangers can do is win the AL West. That'll shut 'em up.

Well, Frankie is hoping he gets away with a lesser sentence. If he get's a felony conviction he will get deported automatically and can't set foot in the U.S. anymore. Tough luck for a young kid making a mistake.

Where WAS Security? They had complained several times about those creeps and NOTHING was done. And yes, other teams have complained about it as well.

Shame is that Frankie is a good guy from all reports and because of some creep lost his cool (Which is UNACCEPTABLE).

The man with the worst reputation in baseball is being forced to retire, to the medias great delight. There has been a recent proliferation of columns by baseball writers wishing Albert Belle the worst, saying they wont miss him and that baseball will be better off without him. All of them ignore one small fact: that Albert Belle is perhaps the most misunderstood athlete of his generation.

"If he get's a felony conviction he will get deported automatically and can't set foot in the U.S. anymore. Tough luck for a young kid making a mistake."

Good. I hope they win more in punitive damages than he has, and he's sent back home penniless.

"Where WAS Security? They had complained several times about those creeps and NOTHING was done. And yes, other teams have complained about it as well."

Tough. These crybaby multi-millionaires think they have a right to keep their wittle itty-bitty feelings from being hurt. If they had to function in the real world, where most folks put up with a whole lot just to earn enough to feed their families and keep a roof over their head, then they might have some appreciation for the uniquely-privileged position they hold in American society: They are paid TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO PLAY A GAME.

If they can't put up with the minor annoyances that come with that highly-favored position, then tough on 'em.

Nobody, a high-paid player included, should have to tolerate profanity and racial slurs.

Profanity? No big thing. Water off a ducks back. Sticks and stones.....Racial slurs? Almost the same thing except you call security and have them stand right behind the loudmouths and tell them that the police are waiting to arrest them for hate speech.

Sorry, Frankie gets no sympathy.

If he wants to do something he gets in a jawing match with them and matches them profanity for profanity and racial slur for racial slur. Otherwise he ignores them. He DOESN'T throw a metal chair into the stands.

23
posted on 09/16/2004 6:41:40 AM PDT
by Just another Joe
(Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)

The player will likely be ruined,and deservers it for losing control, but I have absolutely no sympathy for these fans. None. They're bullies and drunken thugs, and bullies usually end up with bloody noses when they run across somebody who won't put up with their crap.

Oh, boo hoo, poor Frankie, he got miffed from some taunting. Yes, I know the fans were rabid that night, but that doesn't excuse his behavior. They love the cheers, they have to be able to take the boos as well. Don't they learn that as little leaguers?

Hey, Frankie:

Sticks and stones may break my bones,

- and here's the important part, Frankie -

But words can never hurt me.

He should be more concerned about the lady he hit with the chair. Did anyone see her on TV? She actually looked like she was in pain.

30
posted on 09/16/2004 6:58:23 AM PDT
by fortunecookie
(My grandparents didn't flee communism so that I could live in Kerry's Kommune.)

I don't really care in what sort of behavior the fans engaged. If they were over the line, the stadium folks should do something about it. It's beside the point.

The point is that physical violence is an order of magnitude beyond verbal abuse. Physical violence with a metal chair is a couple of orders of magnitude beyond verbal abuse.

If the couple were (seriously) threatening physical violence, then they themselves committed simple assault. If the player had real reason to fear for his safety, or that of his family, etc., a physical reaction could have been justified. The jackass who confronted Yankees players INSIDE THEIR OWN BULLPEN last year deserved the light beating he took. His behavior had moved from extremely abusive to physically threatening.

But potentially deadly assault is never justified as a response for verbal abuse.

Furthermore, these players are paid ludicrous amounts of money to play a game. Their position is one of great, unimaginable privilege. The yawning chasm between the players and the fans mitigates abuse offered by the fans. These players are paid better than Superman. They'd best be better than Superman. If they aren't, then they need to give back the money, or get the hell out of the game.

Where I live, if you take a swing at a guy and break his nose, and you have no legal justification, you'll be charged with a misdemeanor or felony. First offense will get a probation before judgment (if you keep your record clean for a set period of time afterwards - say, a year or two - your record will be expunged).

If you use a physical object in the assault, and cause signficant injury, count on a felony charge, and likely a little time in the county lock-up.

No. It is about sitting next to some jerk, even if you accompanied them to the game and getting hit by a chair someone else threw at them. It is about paying money to be at an event and being assaulted by one of the people you support by being there.

It is about a two-tiered system of behavioural expectations which goes back to the days of college athletes being treated better than those lowly slobs who were just there for an education.

Prosecute

SUE

flog the jerk (the one who threw the chair).

If a spectator had thrown a chair and broke the player's nose, we would be hearing a different story. We shouldn't.

37
posted on 09/16/2004 7:10:02 AM PDT
by Smokin' Joe
(It took the second plane for people to realize we were being attacked. Don't tell me it can't happen)

Nobody, a high-paid player included, should have to tolerate profanity and racial slurs.

'Racial slurs' - is that what Frankie's saying? I'm sure he considers it a sure fire way to silence the critics, but unless the fan was calling Frankie a 'gap-toothed imbred hillbilly cracker' I doubt very much he'd be foolish enough use racial slurs in any Bay Area crowd. He'd be hit by 20k chairs simultaneously.

Radio interview sure sounded to me like the fan was the problem. The husband admitted "they pay for season tickets just to go and heckle the players". This is in the same town where the Oakland Raiders play, and the rude and rowdy fans in that stadium are not pleasant. The cost of season tickets isn't cheap, but that doesn't buy you the right to be an ass to all the visiting players. This same jerk is ruining the baseball game for all in his area who are subjected to the constant taunting this guy apparently only goes to the game to do. Doesn't sound like they have a favorite player or are there to enjoy the "GAME". They just pay money to go taunt. NOTE TO MAYOR JERRY BROWN: You wouldn't let this pair pester the animals at the Oakland Zoo, why have you and your city allowed them to spend their time acting in a similar manner at the local baseball games? Having the money to suy season tickets doesn't give you the right to behave like this. If that were the case, the biggest, baddest, most expensive vehicle on the road would rule the highways. I'm glad I don't attend sports events where this pair attend. I would have thrown something at him myself much earlier in the evening.

Her gutless husband ducked. Whatever pain she was in will be soothed by a couple of mil. Did you see the press conference? She wore a bandage on her nose the size of a dinner plate.

Oh, no, that was her husband? He's probably 'comforting' her by dangling the dollar carrot in front of her. Some hubby.

I briefly saw her on TV, but was unable to watch the whole thing. She really did look pained and bruised, not just like she was looking for a settlement. I think she does need something for her pain. So let's see, the hubby ducks, she gets whacked, and he gets to enjoy her pain and suffering settlement? And Frankie is still begging for mercy. Okay...

I don't watch a lot of baseball, I didn't realize he was a pitcher. At first I wondered just how hard the chair could have hit, but a pitcher throwing a chair at that relatively close distance is even more dangerous. She was hit in the temple, as I understood it, which is one of the worst places on one's head to get hit. She's lucky to be conscious and coherent.

45
posted on 09/16/2004 7:29:56 AM PDT
by fortunecookie
(My grandparents didn't flee communism so that I could live in Kerry's Kommune.)

Oh, I see...a two-tiered system...one set of laws for us regular folks, and another for the rich and famous. ""

In Oakland, there is a 2-tiered system:

One for the rowdy thugs, pimps, drug dealers, gangs and one for those of us trying to live our lives. Oakland is rapidly turning into a third world country. This "fan" was white, but he is acting like a gang member, IMO.

Oh, I see...a two-tiered system...one set of laws for us regular folks, and another for the rich and famous. ""

In Oakland, there is a 2-tiered system:

One for the rowdy thugs, pimps, drug dealers, gangs and one for those of us trying to live our lives. Oakland is rapidly turning into a third world country. This "fan" was white, but he is acting like a gang member, IMO.

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